Daybreak on Raven Island

June 1, 2022
Three middle school social outcasts find hidden clues to an unsolved mystery during a field trip to an abandoned prison. A school field trip takes a group of seventh graders to an island prison that hasn't been visited in over 50 years. Three of them--White soccer player Tori, Korean American aspiring horror filmmaker Marvin, and anxious Black science buff Noah--decide to stay behind on Raven Island instead of returning with their class. They investigate a 1972 prison break by three inmates while waiting for the ferry to return the following morning. Also involved in their quest are Ms. Chavez, the owner of the island and daughter of the prison's last warden; some resident ravens; and a few ghosts that the kids can see--but that are not visible to the host of a ghost-hunting TV show who is also present on the island. Complicating matters is the discovery of a dead body. There is an overall tone of real and imagined horror throughout. The topics of excessively harsh sentencing, inhumane treatment of prisoners, and profiteering by the prison system are woven into the story. The island itself, reluctant to release its secrets or people, is spookily personified: Trees whisper to the three friends, plants attack them, and the passage of time seems to shift. Horror devices and skillful pacing are employed to great effect. An enjoyable paranormal mystery imbued with social commentary. (author's note, resources) (Mystery. 9-13)

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July 22, 2022

Gr 4-6-Seventh grade can be trying for any new teenager, but for Tori, who is white; Noah, who is Black; and Marvin, who is Korean American, surviving the year feels unlikely. The protagonists, along with a handful of other students, are on their way to Raven Island Prison-the first class to ever take a field trip there. The prison, reminiscent of Alcatraz, is rumored to be haunted, and ghosts have been sighted many times. Tori, Noah, and Marvin accidentally miss the ferry home and due to currents, they must wait until daybreak for another ferry to return for them. What ensues is a murder mystery that the three spend the night trying to solve. The island has many buildings, tunnels, and woods that are filled with ravens and ghosts galore, which add to the difficulty of deciphering the truth. No one is exempt from their suspect list. The mystery is written in third-person omniscient, and Bradley draws readers deep into questions of Raven Island in this suspenseful and sometimes scary narrative. Kids will keep turning the pages as they root for the three main characters on their quest for the truth. VERDICT A howling and harrowing good read, perfect for fans who like to keep guessing right up to the very end. A recommended purchase for libraries who need more mystery-horror genre-blends.-Tracy Cronce

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August 1, 2022
Grades 4-6 Ghosts aplenty, though not all the ectoplasmic sort, haunt this chilling tale of three middle-schoolers stranded for a dark and stormy night on an island that houses a former sanatorium and maximum-security prison. In addition to almost emptying the catalog of goosebump-inducing tropes--besides the setting and weather, readers get chill drafts, flickering lights, hidden tunnels, faceless apparitions, murky woods, and more--Bradley tucks in a visiting crew of TV ghost-hunters, a long-kept secret involving an old prison break, and a fresh corpse. There are also a few relevant social issues as two of the preteens--one Black, one Korean American--have experienced racism, and the third, who is white, is traumatized by an older brother's arrest and imprisonment for burglary. Readers who prefer their frights full-blown but on the mild side will definitely get their money's worth, and the author is skillful enough to keep all the disparate elements in the air while propelling her tale along to its climactic denouement and tidy resolution. A select set of inmate-assistance organizations is appended.

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August 22, 2022
Staying behind after a class field trip, three seventh graders endure a creepy night on the grounds of a long-shuttered island prison in this atmospherically heightened mystery by Bradley (Midnight at the Barclay Hotel). When Korean American Marvin, an aspiring filmmaker worried about being forgotten, sneaks off the class’s home-bound ferry to record footage for a horror movie, two other kids join him. In the night to come, white, soccer-loving Tori confronts her feelings about her older brother’s wrongful incarceration, while shy new kid Noah, a Black science enthusiast grieving his mother’s death, faces his fear of disappearing. Investigating the old mystery of the island’s notorious escaped prisoners, the tweens encounter the island’s caretakers, a ghost-hunting film crew, and very real spirits, only to have matters complicated when someone ends up dead. Convenient reveals sometimes sap tension from the unfolding mystery, but smartly employed horror elements—a wide-ranging third-person narration that includes the island’s perspective, an eerie setting featuring ever-present ravens and an underground isolation cell—contribute to a genuinely frightening feel that dovetails with a sober subplot examining injustices committed against the island’s prisoners and institutional racism in the U.S. legal system. An author’s note discusses prison reform and offers links for further reading. Ages 8–12. Agent: Laurel Symonds, Bent Agency.